For many of us who are in shock that Donald Trump is to be our next president, for now we can bury our heads in the sand as we quietly if not nervously figure out how to deal with what we know of Trump and his divisive mindset. Maybe it was all a sham so that he could get elected. Time will tell.
As this was unfolding last night, my sweet tooth was aching for a slice of cake. And so at 9 in the evening I put together this wonderful apple cake. (Talk about being an obsessive baker.) And after an hour of baking and 30 minutes to cool down I cut my first slice when the presidential path was clear. The cake is so sweet and delicious that it easily mitigated life’s more sour moments.
The recipe is from an old Lee Bailey book, “Country Desserts.” If you don’t know Bailey, he was the Ina Garten—The Barefoot Contessa– of his day in the 1980s, but he was more stylish than the homespun Garten (BTW homespun or not she lives in East Hampton, in a compound well-worth north of ten million dollars).
Bailey also lived in the Hamptons in a beautifully simple house that was set back from the ocean, separated by a waterway called Sagaponack Pond, whose zip code, incidentally, is now one of the wealthiest in the country. In his day, it wasn’t that way but just a beautiful enclave of farms, simple vacation homes and seascapes before it become the bastion for hedge fund gold bugs who changed the landscape forever with their castellated shingled horrors aka McMansions.
This Spiced Applesauce Cake is a cinch to put together. Get the best applesauce you can. I used the homemade applesauce from Beth’s Farm Market. The cake is finally covered with a caramel glaze, which is like draping the cake with candy.
A good dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream served with the cake will make this dessert even more special. Or just serve it plain. I happened to have some homemade coffee mocha-fudge-ripple ice cream on hand and if you’re going to gild a lily, this was the way to do it.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted or lightly salted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups good quality unsweetened applesauce
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon mace
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-inch tube or Bundt pan with softened butter. Dust lightly with flour.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. ( Note: there are no eggs in this cake batter.)
- Fold in or beat in on low speed the applesauce until thoroughly blended. The batter will seem curdled. This is normal.
- Sift the flour before measuring and set aside. Resift with baking soda and the spices into a large bowl. Set aside. Scoop out 1/4 cup of this flour. In a small bowl mix the nuts and raisins together with the 1/4 cup flour. Set aside. This will prevent the nuts and raisins sinking to the bottom.
- On low speed gradually stir in the reserved flour until incorporated. Fold in the floured nuts and raisins. Add the vanilla extract.
- Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pan. Put in the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until a knife inserted in the center comes out completely clean. (Note: test the cake after 75 minutes)
- Remove to a rack to cool and let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife carefully around the cake to loosen then invert onto a rack and cool top side up.
- Frosting. Place all the ingredients for the frosting except the vanilla and the confectioners’ sugar into a large saucepan and slowly bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat, stirring all the while. Remove pan from heat and stir in the vanilla and then the confectioners’ sugar, stirring well to combine.
- Pour the frosting onto the top of the cooled cake and let run down the sides. This frosting tends to set rather quickly, so don’t try to spread it with a spatula. It will look best if allowed to flow naturally. This will keep well stored in a covered cake stand for several days.